Prevalence and risk factors of renal dysfunction after liver transplant: a single-center experience

Renal dysfunction is one of the most significant complications after liver transplant. It is attributed mainly to nephrotoxicity caused by calcineurin inhibitors. We evaluated the renal functioning in liver transplant recipients alive for at least 6 months after liver transplant.

One hundred seventy patients (108 male [63.5%], 62 female [36.5%]; mean age, 31.4 +/- 13.3 years; age range, 13-61 years) were included in this study. Patients who had undergone a liver transplant between 1994 and 2006 at the Organ Transplantation Center of the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in Shiraz, Iran, and had been alive for at least 6 months after surgery were included. Data were collected regarding age, sex, body mass index, underlying liver disease, graft type, immunosuppressive medications, serum creatinine levels, and glomerular filtration rate before, 1, and 6 months after liver transplant. Renal dysfunction was defined as a serum creatinine level above 132.6 micromol/L or a glomerular filtration rate less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m2, based on our reference range. Glomerular filtration rate was calculated using the Schwartz formula (glomerular filtration rate mL/min/1.73 m2 = K x Ht (cm) / Cr mg/dL). Data were analyzed with SPSS software.

The mean follow-up was 25.9 +/- 23.5 months (range, 6-156 months). The main indications for liver transplant were cryptogenic cirrhosis (n=42), hepatitis B infection (n=34), autoimmune cirrhosis (n=30), Wilson's disease (n=21), and primary sclerosing cholangitis (n=18). The mean pretransplant glomerular filtration rate was 93.7 +/- 35.6 mL/min/1.73 m2. The mean glomerular filtration rates in the first and sixth months after liver transplant were 81.6 +/- 29.3 mL/min/1.73 m2 and 83.6 +/- 32.9 mL/min/1.73 m2. Sex, body mass index, type of immunosuppressive medication, and underlying liver disease were not predictors of renal dysfunction (P > .05). Posttransplant renal dysfunction was significantly more common in older patients (ie, those aged 38.8 years and older) (P = .0001) and those with a family history of renal disease (P < .05).

Renal dysfunction may be a significant problem for patients after liver transplant, and early detection of renal dysfunction in patients after liver transplant is important. Of all the risk factors studied here, only older age and family history of renal disease were correlated with development of renal dysfunction after liver transplant.